Blood Stained Shores
by KokiriLink
Summary: Oneshot. On Link's birthday, he and his friends go camping by a secluded lake deep in the Lost Woods. But the deathly peace of the lonely lake holds secrets that no mortal should face. Rated for depictions of intense violence, and blood and gore.


Author's Notes: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry I've been AWOL lately, but my life's been rather hectic, what with family members being in and out of the hospital, school being a pain in the ass, and other things that make it hard to sit down and write decently! For those following me on _Akin To Immortal_, that is on hiatus, if you don't already know. I am sorry, but writer's block is a bitch. I will pick it back up, but not right now. Hopefully soon, though! So, without further ado, I present my newest oneshot, _Blood-Stained Shores_!

* * *

It was Link's ninth birthday. The sun glared through the gray clouds, but it was chilled and foggy, incredibly strange, considering it was a summer afternoon. Trudging through the forest, he, his best friend Saria, one of her friends, Serge, and his sister Marla, they tried to keep to the shade of the seemingly wilted trees. They were going to go camping by Lake Suomi, a large lake that was deep in the forest. Saria led the way, as she knew the forest by heart. Serge and Marla walked silently behind her, and Link slowly followed. Grimacing at the gloomy weather, he took care to avoid the nettle bushes on either side of the narrow path they walked along.

Marla broke the silence, "I think I see it." She pointed over through the trees. Through the thick foliage, they could make out what looked like shards of a broken mirror.

Saria nodded, "Yeah, Marla, there it is."

"Not the best day to camp out, don't you think?" Serge asked, glancing at the dull sky.

Saria shrugged, "I know, but it was perfectly fine in Kokiri Village when we started our trip."

Marla turned her attention from the reflective splinters of the lake to Saria, "Yeah, I wonder what happened."

"I dunno, Marla. I wouldn't worry too much about it; the weather's just unpredictable at times."

Link remained silent throughout this exchange. When they broke out of the small path out into a clearing by the lake's bank, he winced at the sudden increase of brightness, his eyes stinging, as did the others. "Y'know, this seemed like a much better idea yesterday."

Serge nudged Link, smiling, "Yeah, but whatever, we won't let a little fog stop us from enjoying this, eh?"

"Yeah, c'mon, Link, don't be such a spoil-sport! It's _your_ birthday, after all," Marla chimed in. As she said this, a bright white crack split the sky, and soon after, a deep rumbling echoed around the trees.

"If you don't mind, I'm gonna stick what I just said," Link muttered with a wry smile.

* * *

What little warmth that the day had was fading fast as the four Kokiri children huddled underneath one of the trees closest to the obsidian-black lake. A small fire sputtered, emanating a small amount of heat. "Well, we can't turn back to the Village now," Link mumbled, "We wouldn't be able to make it by nightfall."

"Yeah… at least we have each other to keep warm," Saria yawned, glancing up at where she thought the setting sun was, although the deepening gray of the clouds obscured it.

Link glanced out over the lake, and noticed an eerie fog creeping over the surface. The fog curled and writhed slowly and erratically as it buried the dark waters of Lake Suomi. As he continued to peer through the mist, the outline of a tall figure seemed to fade into existence. Two shining red eyes glared out from underneath its hood, as it hefted a tall, wickedly curving scythe, the blade jagged and parts of it were stained a deep crimson. The hand that held the brutal weapon was bleached white, and skeletal.

Fear slithered up his spine, a cold, prickling feeling, colder than the very air that surrounded him. His lungs seemed to seize up, and his muscles tense. Link could feel his entire body paralyze as his eyes were frozen upon the figure floating over the still loch.

A whispering voice, rasping, entered his mind, _Child, you and your companions have trespassed upon unholy grounds. Depart these shores, and I shall spare your lives. If my warning goes unheeded, you four shall meet an untimely end. _It raised its empty hand, equally wasted as its counterpart, and extended a long index finger, pointing it straight at Link, emphasizing his ultimatum. And then it began to fade back into the eerie fog. _Remember, child, the next time our paths cross, the end of your life shall be nigh._ The glowing, evil red of its eyes were the last to disappear.

Link felt his muscles relax, and his hands start trembling. Terror gripped his stomach in its icy fist. "G-guys," he stammered, "I th-think we should go home."

Serge glanced over at Link, "For Farore's sake, Link, you look as if you've seen a ghost."

"Oh, Goddesses above, are you okay, Link?" Saria looked into Link's eyes.

"Yes, I am, we just need to get out of here," Link, managed around his tumbling tongue.

"You yourself said we couldn't get back before nightfall," Marla shrugged, "So, let's just wait out the night. I'm sure we'll make it, it's not _that_ cold."

"It's not the cold I'm worried about!" Link tried stumbling up, but his stiff muscles seized at the sudden activity, and he fell back to a sitting position.

"Just get some sleep, Link, nothing's gonna happen." Serge patted Link's shoulder.

Maybe they were right. Maybe it was just a trick of his tired mind. Maybe a little sleep would do him good. Although dread coiled around his spine, and in his gut, he felt his eyelids drooping down, closing against his will. "N-no… we've… gotta… get… home…" Link whispered as his body shut down.

"C'mon, Link, settle down, just go to sleep."

Link didn't know who had said it, because he was already unconscious.

* * *

_Crunch… crunch… crunch…_

Link cracked his eyes open, the slow, rhythmic footsteps permeating his grogginess. It was pitch black, except for a light gray area in the sky. The moon obscured by the dark clouds. He tried to sit up, but found that his numb body wouldn't respond immediately.

_Crunch… crunch… crunch…_

After a few attempts, he managed to sit up, almost silently. He opened his eyes as widely as they would go and scanned the area. He could see the warm fog of his breath in what little light the moon shed upon the boy.

_Crunch… crunch… crunch…_

He looked in the direction of the footsteps (or what he hoped were footsteps) and tried to make out who, or what, was making them.

_Crunch… crunch… crunch…_

Was this that cold undead figure he had seen that previous evening? Was he coming to take their lives, to slay them all for trespassing upon "unholy ground"? That same feeling of fear began to slowly creep up his spine.

_Crunch… crunch… crunch…_

"Wh-who's there?" Link's voice trembled, half from the cold air chilling him to the bone, half from the fear of whatever the source of these footsteps were.

"Link? Huh, I thought you'd be out for the rest of the night. You seemed totally exhausted." The tanned face of Serge slowly emerged from the veil of shadows that encased the entire clearing.

"What th-the heck are y-you doing walk-king around, S-serge?" Link managed to stutter around the biting cold. "And why are y-you not shiv-vering like I am?"

"Well, I had to go water a tree, if you catch my drift." Serge chuckled quietly. "And as for why I'm not shivering, I've never been that sensitive to the cold." Shrugging, he sat down by Link and the other two figures of Saria and Marla, who lay around them, their rhythmic breathing breaking the silence. Link wondered why he hadn't noticed them until now. Serge glanced up at the dim sky, "I'd say it's about midnight. What about you?"

"Yeah, th-the m-moon's in the middle of th-the sk-ky."

"Why d'ya think it's so cold?"

Link thought about it for a few seconds. His mind wondered to the foreboding figure upon the lake; that skeletal harbinger of death. "I h-have no id-dea, S-serge," Link lied.

"Well, whatever, 'night Link." Serge lay back and was soon snoring quietly along with Saria and Marla. Link glanced back over where he thought the lake was. The matte black water was hard to distinguish from the pitch dark forest behind it. Rubbing his arms to warm them up, he lay back down. He forced himself to fall back asleep, although the cold air and fear of what was to come made it tough.

* * *

_Crunch… crunch… crunch…_

Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Link looked up at the sky. The full moon was fully visible shedding it's dim, pale light upon the freezing lake, and the clearing in which Link and his friends were resting.

_Crunch… crunch… crunch…_

Link glanced around. A shadowy figure shuffled slowly along the shore. _And that's probably Serge coming back from answering… nature's… call…_ Link's train of thought derailed as he saw the sleeping form of Serge asleep beside where he sat. A surprised, "Oh…" escaped Link's lips and he scrutinized the area around him. The two girls were also slumbering around him. He could feel the already icy air around him become noticeably colder. He stared at the _thing_ as it shambled towards them. It was close enough to see its identifying details: it gripped that same evil scythe, with that same skeletal rotting hand.

_Boy, you have not heeded my warning. You and your friends shall pay with your blood._ The hoarse voice entered his mind once more, and he could feel his muscles begin to freeze yet again.

"Saria, Serge, Marla! Get up, guys!" Link urgently whispered.

Groaning, Serge sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What's up, Link…?" Serge groggily muttered. He looked up and saw the towering figure of the Reaper looming over him.

Your time has come, the harsh voice grated on the insides of their minds. It slowly, methodically raised its implement of death.

"What the-" Serge's exclamation was cut short by a sickening squelching noise. His blood splattered the gravely shores, as his chest was rived open. A surprised and pained gasp escaped the Kokiri boy's lips… and he was no more.

"SERGE!" Link leapt up, anger gripping his chest as he saw his friend brutally murdered. Saria and Marla were stirring.

"Serge!" Marla mimicked Link as she saw her brother's twitching cadaver. She scrambled over to what was once her sibling, but was now only his shell.

"Marla, don't-" Saria called out, reaching out to pull her back, but missing.

_Foolish girl, you shall follow your brother now_, stated the terrible voice as the Reaper reared his blade back, and was about to strike.

Gritting his teeth, Link picked up the nearest rock, one about the size of his palm, and hurled it at monster. The _thok_ of stone colliding with bone assured Link that he had hit his target.

_Insolent brat! I shall save you for last so you can see your friends die before you!_

Link ignored the fiend as he ran up and grabbed Marla. "We've gotta get outta here, Marla!"

"He's g-gone, Link!" she wept over her lifeless brother.

The demon had recovered from the shock of being struck in the face. He raised the blade once more and brought it down upon the two children. Link saw this, and yanked Marla out of the way. The blade nicked Marla's arm, and the blood started to drip down to her knuckles as she half stumbled, half ran with Link over to the forest edge. Saria was waiting for them there.

"Hurry up, he's following you!" Saria cried as she turned and beckoned for them to hasten.

They all began fleeing through the forest, Saria in front, Link a close second, and Marla bringing up the rear. They could hear the skeleton's emaciated feet batter the earth as he charged after them. It was like some sort of perverse foot race.

This carried on for about five minutes, but each minute felt like a lifetime, and each lifetime felt like an eternity. Their muscles began to burn, and their breathing became ragged. Each exhale fogged in their line of sight, disorienting them as they fled through the ominous trees.

A scream shattered the rhythmic panting of the Kokiri. Stopping and looking back, they saw Marla had tripped, and the demon had caught up. It reached down and picked her up by her neck.

_Do you want to know something?_ Its steady, hoarse voice grated upon the walls of their consciousness. _I enjoy killing children the most. I love hearing them scream._ And with that, it flung Marla into a tree and pinned her struggling body to the trunk by the neck with its malevolent blade. Her scream of pain shifted to a gargled cry, and then her body went limp.

"No!" Saria called out, as if one simple word could reverse death. "No!" she sobbed and tried to run forward.

Link stopped her, putting his arm in the way, catching her across her shoulders and chest. "Saria, don't, there's nothing we can do! Just run!" He started pulling her, and she complied, her tears still falling to the ground.

They continued to escape through the trees, and they could still hear the recurring battery of bone on solid earth. Just as the same thought began to drift among their mind, that they might follow their friends, that their bodies would never be found, they burst into another clearing. In the center, a colossal tree reached for the sky. They could see the first tendrils of sunlight paint the sky scarlet.

They stumbled to the monolithic tree and sat with their back to it. They glanced up at the facial features etched into its trunk. "Great Deku Tree! Help us, please!" Saria called out, her voice cracking with terror.

"**What is wrong, my children?**" the soothing voice of the Great Deku Tree echoed around the clearing. They felt safer, more secure, immediately.

"This monster, this demon is chasing us!" Link shouted up at the Deku Tree. As he spoke these words, said demon loomed out of the trees, and began walking slowly towards the children.

_A tree will not save you from me_, his voice scratched through their minds.

"**Murhaan, I am no mere tree. Turn back now, and never threaten these children again. Ye hath been warned**," the Deku Tree's own ultimatum sounded even more menacing than the demon's, or Murhaan's previous one addressed to Link.

Murhaan looked up, up into the face of the Deku Tree. _As you wish, Master of the Woods. But if they trespass once more upon my land, they shall be executed immediately._

"**Understood. Now begone from this place of life.**"

Murhaan nodded silently, and faded back into the woods.

Link and Saria hugged each other, both mourning for the loss of their two friends, and grateful to be alive.

"**My children… be at peace…**"

"Wh-what about Marla? What about Serge?"

"**I am sorry, Saria, but they are gone. But rest easy, for they are among the great goddesses. They hath moved on.**"

Saria doubled up, weeping even harder.

"**Link, Saria, when you hath the strength, goeth to thy houses, and sleep easy. When ye awaken, ye shall not remember this night, nor thy two friends. The memories shall return when the time is right, but until then, I shall relieve the burden of this terrible experience from your minds.**"

Link nodded, his face drawn. He helped Saria to her feet. "Thank you, Great Deku Tree. We are in your debt twice over."

"**Nay, Link, my son. It is my duty as Father of the Forest to protect all of its inhabitants. Now go rest.**"

Link led his friend into the Kokiri Village. Looking around, he let out a sigh of relief that none of the Kokiri had risen yet. He escorted Saria to her house, and lay her down on the mattress. "Sleep well, Saria," he murmured half-heartedly.

She sniffed, and replied, "You too, Link..."

Link turned, and made his way to his own tree house. His body felt spent. His muscles ached. He felt hollow, numb. As he climbed up the ladder leading to his tree house, he grimaced as he saw the faces of Marla and Serge flash through his mind. "Goodbye, Serge, Marla… I'll see you two in the next life…" Link whispered somberly as he collapsed onto his own bed.

The sky was still a terrible bloody red. It was still stained with the blood of the innocent, as were the shores of Lake Suomi.

* * *

Author's Notes: Woo! I'm rather proud of this. My first horror fic, in celebration of the Halloween!

Now, this is actually based upon a true story. Back in 1960, the most infamous mass murder in Finland took place. Four teenagers went camping at Lake Bodom, a lake by Espoo, Finland, which is approximately 22 kilometers west of the country's capital, Helsinki. In the early morning hours of June 6, 1960, they were assaulted by an unknown person or persons, and three were murdered by multiple stab and bludgeoning wounds. Only one survived, albeit with a concussion, fractures of the jaw and facial bones, and several bruises on the face. He claimed that he saw the Grim Reaper that night.

Well, history lesson aside, I'm proud of how this turned out. Give me your thoughts on how well written this is! Y'know, press that green button, give me a word or fifty on how much you loved, hated, or were indifferent about this story. Many thanks for reading my story, and Happy Halloween!


End file.
